Nature

July 01, 2009

If the Himalayas seduce with their unselfconscious beauty, the Aravalli range that cuts across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Haryana, captivates with its all too conscious ruggedness. The Himalayas are lofty and imperial while the Aravallis are stocky and grounded. The Himalayas soar, while the Aravallis are anchored. The Himalayas have charisma while the Aravallis have self-assurance. The Himalayas make you feel as if they might crumble any moment. The Aravallais, on the other hand, are rock solid. I suppose this is enough description to get my point across. If these opening lines have not conveyed what I mean to, then I have no business writing.

I have been visiting/driving past the Aravalli range for the past three weeks on my current visit to India. I spent some time in Mount Abu. I have been told the Aravallis are the oldest mountain range in India and they are part of what is known in geological terms as the ancient fold mountains from the Precambrian age. Unlike the Himalayas, which continue to grow even today because of the tectonic shifts in the earth's crust, the Aravallis stopped growing millions of years ago because there is no longer upward thrust coming from the movements of the plates underneath. It is possible that the Aravallis too could have acquired the fabled elevation of the Himalayas given the right conditions. In fact, in their early years the Aravallis were supposed to be much higher than what they are now but the elements have eroded their height.

The rocks of the Aravallis range are an arresting spectacle. In some ways they remind me of the Joshua Tree National Park near Palm Springs in the United States. Of course, the scale of the Aravallis is far greater. Now having driven both in the Himalayas and the Aravallis I can speak of at least one similarity. Mountains have the effect of slowing down time. One becomes more laidback. They also create a false sense of permanence in one's mind.

I know I have a tendency to promise more and then not deliver but I think I will revisit the Aravallis in these columns soon.